Approval of drought plan is good news

Updated 4:51 pm, Monday, February 18, 2013

Aquatic biologists sample an area in Landa Lake near the Comal Springs for species of fish. Maintaining spring flow is crucial for endangered species and downstream users.

Aquatic biologists sample an area in Landa Lake near the Comal Springs for species of fish. Maintaining spring flow is crucial for endangered species and downstream users.

Photo: File Photo, San Antonio Express-News

Approval of drought plan is good news

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After more than two decades of struggle, the Edwards Aquifer region finally has a legal plan in place for protecting aquifer-dependent endangered species in times of severe drought.

That's good news. The threat of federal management of the aquifer has cast a dark shadow over the region since a 1993 federal court ruling required that the species be protected.

But as Express-News reporter Colin McDonald noted last week, the habitat conservation plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Valentine's Day may be put in motion this year if the region doesn't get some badly needed rain.

The plan will require pumping cuts of as much as 44 percent if key aquifer levels drop too much, and the monitoring well in the Uvalde pool of the aquifer is perilously close to reaching that level.

Pumping cuts will preserve aquifer-fed spring flows even in a drought of record, protecting endangered species living in the springs. From a human perspective, the spring flows are needed by downstream surface-water users, too.

The plan was developed by stakeholders from around the region through an effort known as the Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Plan. Reaching a deal among the competing interests was a political miracle.

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Edwards users are paying increased aquifer management fees to fund the plan, and downstream users are making financial contributions. McDonald reported that the cost for an average San Antonio Water System customer is about $1.18 per month.

The pumping cuts will be painful if use of the plan is triggered. But the alternative was far more dire.